"I don't think any true cat lovers would like to see cats left on the streets, chased by dogs, shot with arrows and pellet guns, set on fire, poisoned or torn apart by coyotes. These cats do not die kindly on the streets."

I read that last line like a street-smart film noir private eye. He's standing around with the cops at a foggy murder scene. Multiple plastic sheets are spread on the dark pavement. He shakes his head, lights a cigarette, and says, "It's a damn shame, Captain Spade, but these cats do not die kindly on the streets." He walks off into the night as the overhead camera pulls away and a sad saxophone plays.

edmo:There are feral birds now? Parakeet owners should be more responsible.

Almost all birds are feral and they are all descendants of carnivorous dinosaurs. The only non-feral birds are those that have been placed among us to spy on us (Polly wanta crack the launch codes?) by the rest of their hideous kind. Why anyone would prefer these godless killing-machines over their fellow mammalians, the wise and vigilant cats that seek to defend us, is a baffling mystery. They are suicidal fools, like pro-Nazi Jews or Republican-voting workers.

Had to facepalm over a complaint by a Chicago-area woman that when she called Animal Control, they wouldn't mount a huge campaign to her request they spend their budget protecting the herd of cats she fed from the potential threat of wild coyotes that have learned to live nearby by removing all the pesky wildlife. She was honestly hurt and puzzled by their refusal.

By the way...if you're wondering about this, "Respected environmental writer Ted Williams, an advocate for protecting native birds, set off a firestorm last year when he wrote in an Orlando Sentinel opinion column that an over-the-counter pain reliever is an effective poison for feral cats.", Williams wrote that Tylenol will kill cats. A little googling shows that any of the common pain killers, Acetaminophen (Tylenol, Atasol, Paracetomol etc.) Acetylsalicylic acid known as ASA or by the brand name Aspirin, and Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil etc.) are all potentially deadly to felines. One source said a single extra-strength tablet can be fatal.

SquiggsIN:BitwiseShift: Just looked up in rage from this article to see the feral birds eating the fixed feral cats food.

As far as fixing the problem, BP has a solution.

Fixed ferals being fed attracts non-fixed ferals into an unnatural population that will inevitably breed and you cannot catch and fix them all and you're an idiot if you think you can. STOP FEEDING farkING CATS. They are predators with teeth and claws and instincts, they don't need us, they are more capable in the wild than humans are!

I had a senile old lady next door to me who fed the ferals. Every now and then the mobile neuter clinic would come by to trap and release, but as you say, non-fixed ferals still arrive and breed.

Cat colonies aren't nice. Many are injured or diseased. I buried more than one kitten that made its way to my side of the fence before passing on. Once the old lady kicked the bucket and the feeding stopped, those that could move on did, the others (the sick and injured) died soon.

I think trap and release is the best way to deal with existing colonies, but the goal should be to prevent colonies and the way to do that is not put out food for them. If there's a friendly one you like, take him to the vet and then bring him in. We did that with our friendly fellow and he's been ever grateful.

In the backcountry of Stewart Island in New Zealand (south of the main islands) I met a government feral cat trapper. She had a dog to help with the tracking and when asked what she did when she had a trapped cat, she said, "A hammer. It's not nice but it's either the cats or our endangered native birds."

Also was at a place in Australia where they had a bounty for feral cats. They were serious about protecting their native bilbies. Neither of these were way-back-when rather in the last 6-7 years.

Having had to shoot three feral cats on my property this year, I'm getting a kick. No, not really. I like cats, I really do, I have 5 of my own. One is a garage cat who has litterbox consistency problems and thinks that every wall should be peed upon. Strangely, when given the choice he'll go out the cat door and pee outside, thus my garage doesn't smell like cat pee. The rest stay inside and are let out for a few hours a day, weather permitting. They don't wander past my yard and come in every night.

The sissies in this article who promote the wasting of money on spaying and neutering of wild critters is just insane. Having seen a similar form of this program in a nearby town not working, it is utterly pointless beyond giving you the feel good fuzzies. The animals are still a nuisance. The animals are still living a hard scrabble life. The animals are still eating the same amount of wild fauna. The animals are still prone to rabies/distemper/host of intestinal worms/fleas/ticks. The animals are still being eaten by dogs/coyotes/foxes. The animals are still starving. The animals are still being run over by cars. All while you've wasted the equivalent of $60-100 on a medical procedure. Take that money and host free spay/neuter clinics for people's actual pets for people who can't afford it (why they have a pet they can't afford to fix is another rant for another time).

I haven't seen a bob white quail in years. I haven't seen a meadowlark in years. Both were extremely common in my area till people moved in about 10 years ago with a bunch of feral barn cats that multiplied and spread. Due to the largely wooded nature of my area, the coyotes aren't as serious a threat to the ferals like they would be on open ground.

The last straw was one of my own 13 year old cats, who is already crippled, being attacked in my own garage by a big feral tom cat who wanted his food bowl. Good news, big feral tom cats make a great meal for a vulture family of four.

As much as I love cats, I recognize that next to habitat destruction, they are the greatest risk to our native song bird population. When I was a child, our family cat was allowed to roam and would inevitably kill and bring home all sorts of birds and small animals. The numbers were significant, and there is no telling how many creatures she killed and then ate or simply left for dead.

While I never liked the fact that my cat was killing all sorts of creatures, I never gave it too much thought, racking it up to natural cat behavior. I never stopped to think how cats across the country were killing similar numbers of birds and how that aggravate number might compromise song bird populations.

That cat has long since died, but if I was to obtain another cat it would be confined to my house.

I really don't give a shiat about the birds. They are here, they are abundant, they aren't dying in drives like the birdbrains claim. But I think even more than the birdbrains I hate the crazy cat ladies who create this problem.

You know a starving cat can't reproduce? These cat nutsos are contributing to the problem.

It's already illegal to put down food for an animal that's not yours. I've been told by the cops it falls under littering laws. So please stop, you farking lunatics. The cats make the place look like a hoarder's ghetto and I can't take the birders' whining much longer.